tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14524773339927101462018-09-17T13:07:58.784+03:00Doubling PlacesAnn Arbor – Helsinki – Reykjav­íkSaarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.comBlogger141125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-90879941365447566882016-02-22T21:55:00.001+02:002016-02-22T21:55:55.778+02:00Saving<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ODpXhuNJVmg/Vstmum0dksI/AAAAAAAAUUY/GioCBY0JPCk/s1600/saaraIslantinelio3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ODpXhuNJVmg/Vstmum0dksI/AAAAAAAAUUY/GioCBY0JPCk/s1600/saaraIslantinelio3.jpg" /></a></div>Nobody can be in two different places at the same time. But as you travel and visit new places, you'll find that the number of the places where you'd want to be will only increase.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i>Simply saving here my old profile, most applicable to this blog, though no longer really any true description of me.</i><br /><br />Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-47141218712227954082010-11-11T14:38:00.007+02:002010-11-11T14:47:01.056+02:00New blog? What?Well, not a blog. Or rather: not a blog with a website, but a <a href="http://www.saaralehto.com/">website</a> with a blog. What do you think? Cool? Why? What? Who?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/TNvk9vVUrwI/AAAAAAAAMHY/NBxAXJi85B4/s1600/blogiheader2uusittu.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 84px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/TNvk9vVUrwI/AAAAAAAAMHY/NBxAXJi85B4/s400/blogiheader2uusittu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538271916111212290" border="0" /></a><br />Yes, it's me. You might still find traces of a travelling mathematician. Ten points if you do.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-65722319710521658812010-08-08T08:34:00.009+03:002010-08-08T08:47:36.152+03:00Back? Or not?This might be Saara starting to write again or it might be Saara using this blog to promote arbitrary other stuff. I'm not sure which one is the one writing now but here's <a href="http://www.varebellydance.fi/">a website</a>.<br /><br />Yes, bellydance in Finland. My navel is on the front page.<br /><br />Väre is Finnish and means something like shimmy, which is a bellydance movement – a shimmying kind. But it can also mean the ripples on the water. Or the chills you get watching a great performance.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-23566891245911627082009-04-07T22:11:00.002+03:002009-04-07T22:13:32.593+03:00View NorthWhat? She's posting again? Yeah, yeah, yeah... There's an explanation: No pilates tonight. The class was canceled. The teacher is sick. So here's your picture:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SdD41tX85KI/AAAAAAAAG7A/4P2ZCr0Dfzs/s1600-h/%2B0%2B00650.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SdD41tX85KI/AAAAAAAAG7A/4P2ZCr0Dfzs/s400/%2B0%2B00650.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319024761521366178" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is the view North from the upstairs staircase window. Probably taken sometime before Christmas. Our next door neighbor towards North is a bit to the right in the picture: if you look closely you can see a yellowish hue in the right hand side. The red house is the neighbor after that. It's a big beautiful house on a cliff, with a mansard roof and a majestic look. But our little house is just as cosy <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> we don't need to sand 30 icy steps to our front door during winter. Only five.<br /><br />Speaking of the ice. It was glorious on the window that day. It transformed the garden into a soft milky dream and just below the sun made it glow and sparkle in millions of funny shapes and there was just this tiny crack that you could see quite clearly through.<br /><br />The ice is pretty but it's also evidence of bad ventilation in the bathroom. All fixed now. We have a light switch and we have a switch to turn on the mechanical exhaust. Just like in America. Totally awesome!Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-29629862066887002202009-03-29T13:48:00.004+03:002009-03-29T14:10:56.346+03:00Snow Cat<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/Sc9SrXgaVHI/AAAAAAAAG6k/AUavLoV3mA4/s1600-h/%2BIMG_0234.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/Sc9SrXgaVHI/AAAAAAAAG6k/AUavLoV3mA4/s400/%2BIMG_0234.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318560589945656434" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So why haven't I posted anything in such a long time? Well, the truth is that I haven't had any news worth writing about. But the snow cat is worth writing about. Or rather, it's worth a picture.<br /><br />This last week has been beautiful and sunny with rapidly melting snow and a strong promise of spring. But yesterday I woke up to a silent snowfall which made me instantly happy as it never fails to do. Today however, the snow is already melting again and the cat has lost first it's tail, then the head and now finally it's back. <br /><br />Luckily I took pictures yesterday to share with you and remind me of the wonders of snow even after it's all melted away. How about the past months then? Did I <a href="http://doublingplaces.blogspot.com/2008/11/packing-now-panicking-later.html">panic</a>? Did I get everything packed? Did I take any pictures to share later? Was I truthful earlier when I said I told you the truth? Shall you find out later? Nobody knows, but the Snow Cat's here to stay. And if it snows a little more, I can always make a new creature from the two leg pillars still standing.<br /><br />As always, the Snow Cat from left and from right and from back and from front <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/doublingplaces/SnowCat#">here</a>.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-8509509272904240962008-11-18T23:11:00.003+02:002008-11-18T23:57:30.246+02:00Packing Now, Panicking LaterSo we are moving just 11 days from now. I'm packing. There's still no electricity, no heating, no water, not even a toilet seat. Somebody pointed out to me that there's no use for a toilet seat if you don't have any water. But I've thought this through, trust me. You see, one could fetch water from the garden tap, which is working. At least I think it is.<br /><br />We are happy it's getting colder as the porch will provide a great fridge and we are planning to buy a mikrowave. The eight months of dust do worry me though. The vacuum uses electricity, you understand. And the cats do worry me. They are ment for pillow imitating and purring, not as renovation hazards or dust redistributers.<br /><br />But there is one thing I've learned this fall. We all know it and I've known it too for a long long time, I've been told it hundreds of times and I've said it hundreds of times more but I was never able to truly live by it before. To take only one worry at the time. If you feel your life is spiralling out of your hands, that your worries are drowning you, that you simply can't handle it anymore, I have a suggestion you can't pass: Acquire a house to renovate, the older the better, the worse the shape the better. Prefarably wooden. Prefarably with memories. And I promise you, you will finally be able to live one day at the time.<br /><br />Yes, we are moving in 11 days from now, we don't have electricity, heating or water, not even a toilet set, and I'm not panicking. There is still plenty of time for that next week.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-45696847360376691212008-10-28T22:13:00.003+02:002008-10-28T23:52:24.401+02:00LegacyIt was a basement restaurant and I walked the white steps down from the street. It had been raining the whole day and I was happy to get inside from the wet darkness. I was a bit early as you can imagine but there were already some people bustling about and I slowly chose a table from the far end of the room. They had coffee and pastries. The room was small and softly lit and the walls were decorated appropriately in the spirit of Kalevala.<br /><br />Once it started the meeting did feel like a community. I am using the word very consciously. We are living in history. I know that a member can be discharged from the cooperative by a simple decision of the administrative board. And that this in effect means that you lose your property. No quarreling about.<br /><br />I observed the discourse from my sofa. Most of the members present had beards and everyone who spoke did so with steady confidence. I was surprised to be able to follow everything that was being said without effort. I rather think that I knew quite a lot of it already. Of the construction details that is, not of their history. My vocabulary has already changed and I felt homey and affirmed by the discussion.<br /><br />On the way home I remembered an evening at my grandparents'. Mikko had to leave for the cooperative meeting. I was bummed that he had to go, but I couldn't say anything as I somehow saw in his face the importance, the necessity and the dignity of his mission. I don't know if he ever spoke there with the steady confidence but I know that he must have sat in the same room with some of the same people I'd hear speaking today. I also don't know if he liked going to the meeting, probably he would have rather stayed home with his granddaugher. But I know that he did go and that he did everything right, just like grandfathers and grandmothers do. And I know that he would have shaken his head in worry and his brows would have furrowed in his ever-present anxiety over me but that he would have known what to do now, too. Just like grandfathers and grandmothers do.<br /><br />As I walked home to the home that is almost not home anymore as the move date is getting closer and closer I was crying and for the first time I really felt the weight of legacy on my shoulders. Enough so that I am now able to realize that however clichéd it sounds, it really is a thing that feels in your shoulders. And it feels quite lonely. With this house it is just me now. I have to be the one who knows what to do, just like I do. And just tonight I miss my grandfather.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-60811630250607322342008-10-16T23:41:00.009+03:002008-10-17T02:25:52.723+03:00OverflightMums are pretty cool. Mine came to pick me up me for a bird watching expedition this Wednesday night. We drove to Viikki, a nature area in Helsinki, just a bit east from Kumpula, and walked to a birdwatching tower on the waterside. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SPeppsMK6nI/AAAAAAAAGUQ/UttLySxGLyw/s1600-h/hanhet.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SPeppsMK6nI/AAAAAAAAGUQ/UttLySxGLyw/s400/hanhet.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257857623680281202" border="0" /></a>There were already two guys there, you know the kind: brown greenish jackets with 25 pockets, rough beards and alert friendly eyes, huge cameras standing on tall tripods, relaxed poses looking silently out to the bay. We were silent too. My mum was happy with her binoculars, I was happy with my camera.<br /><br />The wait was worth it. After an hour or more of standing there, seeing and breathing and watching the sky get darker and darker there was a sound. Cackling from north-east, from the direction of the fields. There were maybe 20 of them. Barnacle geese. They flew just over us and towards west and landed on the bay.<br /><br /><br />A few seconds and then there was a louder sound, more cackling, from a wider area now, then building up, getting closer, thundering towards us, turning into a machine or a train or an airplane, all around us, and then 3000 geese are flying right above us, over us, everywhere around us. We can see them quite clearly. Their shapes, their wings, their formations, their strength, they are everywhere, they fly fast and in a minute it is over. The last are descending on the bay nearby. The cackling continues more distant on the calm of the bay and when we walk back to the car after some tea from the thermos it is already dark.<br /><br />Here's some audio:<br /><br /><embed id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=5074263775645636696&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=true" style="width: 400px; height: 326px;" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed><br /><br />And pictures, as usual, <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/doublingplaces/BarnacleGeeseInViikki#">here</a>.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-89249954566113793112008-10-13T17:04:00.001+03:002008-10-13T17:08:13.583+03:00Women and MathCheck out the <a href="http://mathstat.helsinki.fi/english/index.html">new layout</a> of the department wep page. The person making the page asked me politely if they might use my picture. Let us recall the standard answer. Yes, of course, anything for the department! However, I did first check that there was nothing obscene written on the blackboard. Which makes me quite angry now that I get asked: "So what did you write on the board that they had to censor it?" Yes, for the nth time: the box on the right hand side is not a censor box but in fact the logo of the university. For reference check out any department, <a href="http://www.physics.helsinki.fi/english/">physics</a> for example, or the University's <a href="http://www.helsinki.fi/university/">main page</a>.<br /><br />When I'd started as a grad student, or perhaps even earlier during my undergrad there were a lot of studies of "math and women" floating around and I got asked all the time: "How does being a woman affect your studies and your career?" I always answered that if anything it has had a positive effect. Which is obviously true, whether for the good of women in math in general or not let us leave for some other discussion. Now, however, I would like to add one point that seems insignificant after one incident and still quite insignificant after twenty but starts slowly getting on your nerves after a few years of such treatment.<br /><br />What on earth am I talking about? Let us recall. Why is my picture on the web page again? Well, a few years ago there was a need to take pictures for some departmental leaflet. Naturally all the females were asked to pose as fake lecturers in order to get socially influential pictures. No big deal, I said, anything for the department!<br /><br />But any time there is a need for a representative, a teacher, a panelist, a comittee member, a person to be interviewed, they will want a woman. And as there are not expectionally many women, the same people are asked all the time. And god help you if you once do a good job, they will never ever ever ask anybody else again. And so your precious work time trickles slowly away as you will never ever ever learn how to say no.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-14838076242875715792008-10-07T08:54:00.007+03:002008-10-07T10:30:48.324+03:00DetailsThe room was full of light. Maybe there was a slight greenness in the furniture. We stood on a soft carpet almost at once. There were two candles on the table and I put the small white box down beside one of them. He looked at us in the eyes and spoke with conviction and I agreed with everything he said. We wanted to kiss long before he was done. Then he came around the table and shook my hand and said: "Congratulations, Mrs –". And yes, before you ask, I did keep my name.<br /><br />Afterwards we were standing by the sea. There was a wind blowing almost like in Iceland. I was slightly afraid of being blown away. The trees were still yellow and orange and the sun was bright and sparkling on the waves. There was a sailing boat or two. We walked on the cliffs for a while and then sat down in the white gazebo. We were both speaking on the phone for a long long while.<br /><br />There are no pictures. I wore my green highschool graduation dress, a necklace from Iceland and a hair pin from Alexandria. Tommi had a dark suit and a grey tie but his pin with Kevätpörriäinen was unfortunately in Vaasa. My camera was in my purse.<br /><br />But don't be angry if you didn't know. Nobody knew. We got married just the two of us.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-65670455472508744992008-10-04T23:14:00.000+03:002008-10-05T01:53:44.773+03:00Window ShoppingWe took a ride to Pinjainen today, that's Billnäs in Swedish and close to Pohja, which means literally "the bottom" and is close to Karjaa which is about an hour drive west from Helsinki. The day was beautiful: sunny and in all the colours of the Finnish fall.<br /><br />And I bought a window. There is something sea in it and something cat too.<br /><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"></span></span><br />And I took some pictures. Just a couple so they were easy to go through. <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/doublingplaces/Pinjainen#">Check them out</a> though.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SOfpNs9eeCI/AAAAAAAAGKQ/aDi5TZIPGjw/s1600-h/%2B00017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SOfpNs9eeCI/AAAAAAAAGKQ/aDi5TZIPGjw/s400/%2B00017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253423911967553570" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Oh, and ten points if you catched the quote and were able deduce the name of the window. We'll see if it holds... the name I mean.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-53717153775871203882008-10-01T12:17:00.004+03:002008-10-01T12:41:19.853+03:00Walking BackYou know what is sad? That there is a colourful warm sunny fall outside and I've become estranged from my camera. This morning I walked early to the house. You know about the house? Well, for now I guess it's enough to know that there is a house, well a half of a house really. It's in Käpylä, the place where the fall of my imagination has always lived.<br /><br />The blanket of rustling yellow at your feet, the smell of moist ground after last night's rain, the freash air and the sense of possibilities, the red and the green and the brown and the yellow in all the leaves in all the colours of all the houses all round. And a feeling of walking back from school.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-2770871610416935722008-09-21T19:15:00.005+03:002008-09-21T20:01:39.546+03:00Mind PicturesOf course I didn't have my camera with me today. We went to eat at this <a href="http://www.everestyeti.fi/">new Nepalese place</a> on Rautatientori and by the way, we highly recommend. Tommi's fish was more spicy than my chicken, but the naan was great and the mango lassi just as it should. After we had eaten a butterfly flew over the table and landed just beside my napkin. It was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inachis_io">peacock butterfly</a>, neitoperhonen in Finnish. It was perfectly orange brown with its four purple and black eyes and hairy body and it sat there for a long long time just swaying its antennae and warming in the sunshine on the shiny white tablecloth.<br /><br />Afterwards we saw the movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1114712/">Brúðguminn</a> by Baltasar Kormákur. It was quite funny but not nearly as great as 101 Reykjavík of which I've already <a href="http://doublingplaces.blogspot.com/2008/02/some-more-snow.html">obsessed</a> about here. But the opening scenes of hillsides and the sea and the swans at Tjörnin made my eyes water. I miss my Iceland.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-7493293428488408902008-08-30T09:53:00.000+03:002008-08-30T09:53:58.022+03:00Summer BlissOk, so this happened three weeks ago already, but you know how hard it is to get back on track after a long break.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SKXVcshHn5I/AAAAAAAAEzg/3vxFPSG8ux4/s1600-h/%2B0%2B00102.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SKXVcshHn5I/AAAAAAAAEzg/3vxFPSG8ux4/s400/%2B0%2B00102.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234824830851194770" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I put this picture as my background pic on my laptop after I lost the previous one of Jymy through reordering of old files. This is from Koivuranta in Vääksy, a village in the southern part of the lake Päijänne. My dad's family is from Kalkkinen which is a bit north from Vääksy, just across Pulkkilanharju.<br /><br />We visited Koivuranta on August 9th to attend a yearly family gathering always abundant with honest food, happy family talk, games and programme, sauna and swimming and of course a birthday cake for my grandma. Happy birtday Aino!<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/doublingplaces/Koivuranta">Check out</a> some more pictures of the Finnish summer by the lake and a couple of rare shots of lakeside species.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-4965269320310179862008-08-08T19:14:00.002+03:002008-08-08T20:38:38.378+03:00LaundryOur washing machine – the one I told you our cats like to sit on top of when it's on – broke down last week. Luckily nobody was sitting on top of it when it was on for the last time. Or maybe somebody was but they took off much faster than I was able to run to the bathroom. Well, there was no drama really. It just made a funny noise – it sounded <span style="font-style: italic;">broken</span> actually – and we had to unplug it before it travelled too far.<br /><br />However, I had ingeniously forseen this and inherited my grandma just a few months ago and so it happened that she did happen to own another old washing machine, actually probably even younger than ours. So all we had to do was to transport it to our place. Well, for minor technical reasons we had to get rid of the old one first. We carried it down to the basement beside the trash cans. And yes, I am aware that this is quite illegal. However, I ment to keep an eye on it and order a pick up for it if it wouldn't disappear. But as I suspected the next day somebody had already moved it to the other side of the room to sit beside an abandoned television and a couple of days after it had already disappeared. This handy recycling system seems to function quite reliably in these big city owned apartment buildings for <span style="font-style: italic;">all manner of stuff</span>.<br /><br />So now we have a washing machine again. I also managed to buy a new tube and so our washing machine even <span style="font-style: italic;">functions</span>. And to top it all off I managed to retrieve the old manual – how it still exists is quite unfathomable – and now we are even able to understand <span style="font-style: italic;">how it functions</span>. I'm sure only a washing machine engineer could figure out to call the different programs by such descriptive names like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or even Z.<br /><br />The only problem is that this washer has a way smaller tumbler than our old one had. It currently seems like the washing rate that I'm able to achieve would not be able to match the rate of dirty laundry this household is able to produce. We might be facing a bit of a problem soon.<br /><br />What is the most important thing though? The cats are happy. A front loader beats a top loader any day – way more entertaining!Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-35239141304226492782008-08-01T23:14:00.000+03:002008-08-08T20:44:50.808+03:00Cairo, Alexandria And The World Dances With Mahmoud RedaLong time no see, I know, I know. But there is so much more to write about as well as I promised. Here's the first peace offering. Yes, I was in Cairo.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SI7xOYlG2fI/AAAAAAAAEu0/VjoRfVAosNw/s1600-h/%2B00036.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SI7xOYlG2fI/AAAAAAAAEu0/VjoRfVAosNw/s400/%2B00036.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228381446842276338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The good news is that I didn't have time to take as many pictures as I usually do and thus it might be possible for me to go through them all in a sufferable time and you might actually get to see them at some point in the future.<br /><br />Here's another picture from Cairo. Don't ask me what the sign says. The flower is pretty though.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SI7xTjg_tzI/AAAAAAAAEu8/j3PDCji3Cd8/s1600-h/%2B00056.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SI7xTjg_tzI/AAAAAAAAEu8/j3PDCji3Cd8/s400/%2B00056.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228381535677167410" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />No pictures from Alexandria at the moment. There was even less time for picture taking there. And now here's the story. Last year just before Christmas I auditioned for the <a href="http://www.elhossenydance.com/dance_company.html">El Hosseny Dance Company</a> (why it still says at the web site that they are just founding the company, I have no idea, I think it has existed for at least two years now). As I was in Iceland last spring I couldn't dance with the group before but when I got back to Finland in the beginning of June I called Tuija and asked if I could still join them for the trip to Alexandria and Tuija said yes. So the next day I went to practice and the day after that as well and the day after that and you know the drill.<br /><br />Why Alexandria then? Well, there was The World Dances With Mahmoud Reda festival. There is no link here as based on my limited experience there generally are no links about anything that happens in Egypt. Now <a href="http://www.safticraft.com/mreda.asp">Mahmoud Reda</a> I can link you to many pages even though it's surprising that there is no Wikipedia page about him and I so can't use my default link and chose this link instead as it contains pictures from last year's festival in Alexandria.<br /><br />In the festival different dance groups around Europe come togeather to perform Mahmoud Reda's choreographies with Egyptian professional male dancers. This year as last year the groups were representing France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Finland. We had five shows at the big stage at the <a href="http://www.bibalex.org/English/index.aspx">New Library of Alexandria</a> in the beginning of July. Our group danced altogether seven dances, four each night. No dance pics yet though, sorry, as obviously they would not be taken by me. However, here's a picture of our group posing with Mahmoud Reda and <a href="http://faridafahmy.com/">Farida Fahmy</a>, a legendary principal dancer of the Reda Troupe who came to see the last two shows. To get a glimpse from the past <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL1EHitZ-xo&amp;feature=related">check out</a> Mahmoud Reda, Farida Fahmy and the Reda Troupe on YouTube. This year I think the Italian group performed this piece, correct me if I'm wrong.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SI8P_Tu9TFI/AAAAAAAAEvE/wgTbJXeJQus/s1600-h/img_9719.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SI8P_Tu9TFI/AAAAAAAAEvE/wgTbJXeJQus/s400/img_9719.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228415272703839314" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Standing from left to right: Laura, Marcela (our Spanish participant), Ilona, Master Mahmoud Reda, our teacher Tuija Rinne, Madame Farida Fahmy, and our teacher Mohamed El Hosseny<br /><br />Kneeling from left to right: Elise, Milja, Nastya (our Estonian participant), Aino and me<br /><br />The picture was taken by a professional photographer at the Library, if anybody knows who to credit here, please let me know and I will do so.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-29389491119559024042008-06-19T00:42:00.005+03:002008-06-19T01:15:04.356+03:00Real BusinessHere's a Viivi and Wagner from a few weeks back. Wagner has invented a whistle that attracts real estate agents. Having met some of the same sort just a few days ago, this made me laugh out loud. In the last frame Viivi is asking how one does get rid of them and Wagner says that he thought they would have natural enemies.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SFmDUqdRSAI/AAAAAAAAEt0/gMXIIrE6JKI/s1600-h/viivijawagner.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SFmDUqdRSAI/AAAAAAAAEt0/gMXIIrE6JKI/s400/viivijawagner.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213342434675738626" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />As for anything else, my life's all upside down in a good busy hectic sort of way so no updates. Also I'll be gone for a few weeks soon and will not be taking my laptop so there really will be a silence for a while. And then I suppose the list of things to write about will be only much much longer.<br /><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"></span></span><br /><a href="http://www.hs.fi/viivijawagner/1135236850209">Here's</a> a link to the strip in Hesari.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-1629031297092943162008-06-10T23:58:00.007+03:002008-06-11T01:14:39.651+03:00Käpylä Village Festival<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SE7yPg_6fHI/AAAAAAAAEr4/EyNdExVQT4Y/s1600-h/%2B0%2B00075.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SE7yPg_6fHI/AAAAAAAAEr4/EyNdExVQT4Y/s400/%2B0%2B00075.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210368167284210802" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This weekend was the Käpylä Village Festival, Käpylän kyläjuhlat in Finnish. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A4pyl%C3%A4">Käpylä</a> is my childhood neighbourhood and my mum still lives there. You have seen some garden pictures from there last summer and if you haven't heard my lectures about my beautiful home neighbourhood, go ahead and read the Wikipedia article linked above. The lecture is more or less the same. I checked.<br /><br />The Village Festival is a biyearly thing, every other summer it is held in Kumpula, a similar neighbourhood nearby. There is always music and other program, festival food and festival beer and such like but for us the main attraction has always been the flea market. It is a real flea market with ordinary people who carry their tables out on the street and spread their old pots and pans on the tables and sell in the spirit of getting rid of old stuff and buying some new much cooler stuff from the neighbour's table. And nobody is doing any business, they are only fulfilling the meaning of life which is of course to carry stuff from one place to another.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SE7yzA_6fII/AAAAAAAAEsA/3wKzpP6ip7A/s1600-h/%2B0%2B00098.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SE7yzA_6fII/AAAAAAAAEsA/3wKzpP6ip7A/s400/%2B0%2B00098.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210368777169566850" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We had a beautiful weather this weekend and I even got a bit of red on my nose from the sun. We also sold quite a lot of stuff with my mum. And we didn't buy anything at all (except food) so I think all in all we managed pretty well.<br /><br />All the pictures are from my old home street Pohjolankatu, where the flea market was held. The street was closed from traffic that day. But somehow I think that the amount of people did compensate for the lack of cars.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SE71CQ_6fLI/AAAAAAAAEso/jcCc4yPXSV4/s1600-h/%2B0%2B00113.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SE71CQ_6fLI/AAAAAAAAEso/jcCc4yPXSV4/s400/%2B0%2B00113.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210371238185827506" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />PS: I've been getting complaints about the slow updates. Some say that it has to do with Facebook and in a way that is true. That and the fact that I've been incredibly busy lately. It is actually slightly less time consuming to write one sentence that somebody else has already started by giving you the first word than coming up with a whole post full of text not to mention pictures. But I will try.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-33567153765783525372008-05-30T17:15:00.007+03:002008-06-10T00:34:51.983+03:00KotonaAt home. There are trees. There are freaking many trees. All around. They are green. And tall. And the sun is shining. And it's warm. And I can hear the sound of the wind in the trees just outside the kitchen window. I didn't know one could miss the sound of the wind in the trees so incredibly much.<br /><br />It actually feels like arriving in a tropical holiday destination. You have to take off almost all of your clothes and the air is bright and there are happy alive sounds all around and a soft warm caress of the wind against your face and your arms as you walk to the store in your shirt and your sandals. We have been properly calibrated it seems.<br /><br />Ja käytiin kaupassa ja kasattiin kärry täyteen suomalaista ruokaa: karjalanpiiirakoita, ruisleipää, viiliä, Fazerin raparperipiirakoita ja pätkiksiä ja siideriä ja varrasleipää. Ja radiossa soi Anssi Kelan Milla. Melkein rupes itkettään.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SEARmhbazCI/AAAAAAAAErI/nxc1uwpxS6c/s1600-h/saippuakuplatkaikki.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SEARmhbazCI/AAAAAAAAErI/nxc1uwpxS6c/s200/saippuakuplatkaikki.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206180522746367010" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />And to be fair I think I have to report also on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Iceland_earthquake">earthquake</a>. Namely there was an earthquake not far from Reykjavík yesterday. The center of the quake was in Selfoss, about 50 km south-east from Reykjavík, which is a typical earthquake area.<br /><br />We were at home packing. And suddenly it felt like the neighbours washing machine must have broken down and then the floor was trembling and there was a big rumble and we looked at each other and said: "It's an earthquake!" and then we looked out of the window and had just time to wonder if we should go down to the street or stay up and then it stopped. And after two seconds the whole house (we're at third floor) swayed a couple of times from side to side.<br /><br />But as we went outside afterwards the life seemed completely normal. It was a sunny day and people were milling around and sitting in cafes. Somebody said that the phones had died for a while or was it electricity but that's about it.<br /><br />My friend told me though that there was some damage all the way in Akranes as well, which is about 100 km from the center of the quake and that in the liquor store some bottles had fallen down from the shelves. So there must have been damage in Reykjavík too. And in Selfoss there really was a lot of damage and even some injuries and the people are now sleeping outside in tents in the fear of after quakes.<br /><br />Our departure was timely as we could carry all our extra blankets and pillows and sheets and such to the nearby red cross this morning at 4am before heading for the bus to Keflavík.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-23154885798365996782008-05-27T01:33:00.000+03:002008-05-27T05:28:54.038+03:00ChangesThe swans from the lake Tjörnin have left for the North for Summer. There was only one swan at the lake tonight. And we know, we saw all it's friends already up there in the North.<br /><br />Also my favourite cafe Barinn has closed down. There was a yellow wrapper on the windows that informed us that on Friday May 30th a new bar will open there. And we will be flying back to Finland the same day.<br /><br />So my life here ends and I have to reborn again for Helsinki. How to be a mathematician again after being a dancer for five months, I have no idea. The truth is that the biggest change has happened already. I don't wish to reborn.<br /><br />But the weirdest thing we saw on tonight's walk was this house in Tjörnin. Yes, <span style="font-style: italic;">in</span> Tjörnin. What happened here??<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SDtpVhbazBI/AAAAAAAAEq4/O0eG0HnE-cQ/s1600-h/00020.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SDtpVhbazBI/AAAAAAAAEq4/O0eG0HnE-cQ/s400/00020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204869612828281874" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It is a piece of art of course. By easy googling I found out that it is an installation called Atlantis by Tea Mäkipää and Halldórs Úlfarsson and that it has been already sailing in Finland. Here's a <a href="http://www.tea-makipaa.eu/atlantis.htm">link</a> to Mäkipää's cite. (Mäkipää is Finnish of course and Úlfarsson Icelandic.)Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-36653523263184448212008-05-23T23:04:00.000+03:002008-05-24T02:02:35.715+03:00Saara is updating her blog.<span style="font-weight: bold;">Today</span><br /><br />Saara has returned home (to Reykjavík) happy and tired.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 20</span><br /><br />Saara will start driving north and towards Akureyri in less than an hour.<br /><br />Saara will spend the next four days with Tommi driving aroud the island.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 19</span><br /><br />Saara is on a very well deserved holiday! ;) ;) ;).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 18</span><br /><br />Saara wants to thank everybody for a wonderful night!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 17</span><br /><br />Saara warmly welcomes everybody to Mango studio's Spring performance (bellydance!) at Tonbergi, Tonlistaskola, Dalbraut 2, Akranes tomorrow on Sunday at 18:00.<br /><br />Saara is finally finished with grading and feels quite finished because she has been dancing all day.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 16</span><br /><br />Saara has blisters in her feet and a big bruise in her left knee and feels incompetent.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 15</span><br /><br />Saara is tired.<br /><br />Saara is deliriously happy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 14</span><br /><br />Saara has chosen her music for Sunday. She will dance Avril Lavignes Innocence. Now three days to make the choreography...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 13</span><br /><br />Saara tries to finish two choreographies before 7pm.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 12</span><br /><br />Saara is trying to do four things at the same time with poor success.<br /><br />Saara had a super fun day with Maria and Siggi and Michelle and Bill and Tommi of course. Thanks for the great company guys!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 8</span><br /><br />Saara has fallen hopelessly in love with a couple of mountains and does not ever want to leave this beautiful country.<br /><br />Saara is still equally busy but with different work.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 7</span><br /><br />Saara reads project reports that are copy pasted from Wikipedia...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 6</span><br /><br />Saara is alive again.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />May 5</span><br /><br />Saara finished grading almost two hours before dead-line this week.<br /><br />Saara is grading again but sneezing a bit less.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />May 4</span><br /><br />Saara is grading, sneezing and drinking tea.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 3</span><br /><br />Saara has had an utterly crazy day.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 2</span><br /><br />Saara is tired.<br /><br />Saara is gggrrrrading again.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 1</span><br /><br />Saara had her last math class yesterday and got a "Lost in Iceland" T-shirt from her studets.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 30</span><br /><br />Saara will celebrate her n:th vappu away from Finland by working, working and working... :/.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />April 29</span><br /><br />Saara went to Finland, got ill again, had a tearful day, enjoyed the spring, graded all the papers on the flight back and is now trying to get better while working...<br /><br />Saara is back online...<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />April 23</span><br /><br />Saara finished her lecture notes, got sick, was working too much and is now getting better. Tomorrow she will celebrate the first day of summer by sleeping.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 21</span><br /><br />Saara is pissed off because somebody has stolen her absolutely favorite new pair of furry violet socks from the laundry room. Grrrr!<br /><br />Saara got all correct in her Icelandic test.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 20</span><br /><br />Saara has finished this weeks grading and will now start working on next weeks lesson plans...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 19</span><br /><br />Saara has polished all the shoes, washed three loads of laundry, cleand the bedroom, done the dishes and has now also vacuumed the whole apartment to avoid working.<br /><br />Saara has polished all the shoes, washed three loads of laundry, cleand the bedroom and done the dishes just because she's soo fed up with writing notes.<br /><br />Saara has polished all the shoes.<br /><br />Saara is hungry.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 18</span><br /><br />Saara has finished over a half of this weeks grading and will now go home.<br /><br />Saara is grrrading.<br /><br />Saara had ice-cream for breakfast.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 17</span><br /><br />Saara should be sleeping.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 16</span><br /><br />Saara wants somebody to translate Hakim &amp; Don Omar's "Tigi Tigi".<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 15</span><br /><br />Saara has apparently given too many and too hard problems to her studets this week.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 14</span><br /><br />Saara went to see 21 with her probability class. (After class. Because they were going and asked her to come with.).<br /><br />Saara is teaching.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 13</span><br /><br />Saara was just pranked to think that she had lost her friend's car! Ggrrrr!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 12</span><br /><br />Saara danced Brazilian samba for the Icelandic tv tonigt.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">April 11</span><br /><br />Saara is just tired.<br /><br />Saara 's thoughtful neighbours just cut out the water - again.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> * * *</span><br /><br />Yes, these are all my status updates from the last few weeks, unedited. It's all that Facebook still shows. This is just to prove that although I've been letting my blog down lately my debt to the holy web has been paid diligently all the time nevertheless.<br /><br />A few remarks: Our trip was amazing. Also the show was amazing. (Obviously.) I'm also finished with the probability course. And finally: I did find my furry violet socks, they had slipped underneath the drawer.<br /><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"></span></span><br />To get more of this kind, just friend me on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a>. ;)Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-75803494870787883072008-05-11T11:58:00.001+03:002008-05-11T15:53:08.859+03:00Dream CloudsOn Tuesday night I dreamt about these clouds. I was in an old city with church towers and narrow grey stone streets and there were mountains around. It had just been raining. The sun was setting behind the mountains and there were clouds all around just above the mountains and further down descending along the slopes of the mountains. The setting sun made the couds shimmer in yellows and oranges and pinks and purples and also in blues as there was clear blue sky just behind them peaking through. <br /><br />Quite predictably I had my camera with me and I was taking a video of all this and as I turned around I found even more amazing softly changing formations of clouds and light. The mountain on that side was covered with a full dark green forest and as I let my camera slowly move upwards along the side of the mountain the clouds were once thin veils, once thick layers on top of each other and once smooth surfaces of white and once all of that at the same time amongst each other and on top of each other and behind it all the setting sun was turning the clouds into pink and orange and blue and the colours were constantly changing and making more and more patterns on the sky. And I got it all on tape.<br /><br />And so on Tuesday after my dream as I was driving back home from Akranes where I teach my belly dance classes, I saw my dream clouds in real life. I have no pictures to prove it as I was tired and didn't see a good spot to stop and also it was really quite windy and I didn't feel like opening the doors anyway. You'll understand: windy here means windy in a way that you don't want to open the car doors as you're afraid that they might fly away.<br /><br />I noticed it already in Akranes as I stood outside the studio door. There were dark grey almost black clouds above Akrafjall but in the hollow of the mountain there was a hole with blue sky and a shimmer of white. And as I drove out of the town there was a shimmer of cold in the horizon just north of Akrafjall and underneath the black thick layers of rain clouds that streched over the sky. But looking over the water towards south east as I was driving towards the tunnel there were my dream clouds framing my Esja.<br /><br />The mountain was different of course. No green trees but just shapes of browns and greys and greens that make up the forms of the slopes here. And no gold either. But the clouds had ascended down on top of the mountain and in the middle where there's a lower part the clouds were such soft mist that it looked grey and silver and blue at the same time. And around and on top of the mountain the clouds were in thick pillows and in transparent sheets and above against the blue sky they took every possible formation and there was a setting sun of course that coloured some of the clouds orange and pink and some of them were still blue against the sky.<br /><br />About 15 minutes later I drove into the cloud. It looses all the dreamy qualities then of course and becomes just a dark raining wet mist and in the end you can't really see anything anymore. And then it becomes another dream altogether driving in the mist and seeing the turns of the road only just as they come and the mountains only as dark walls rising up and up just beside you when you drive close by.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-87525928672956525432008-05-03T23:38:00.000+03:002008-05-04T01:38:27.366+03:00What You Can Achieve in 5 Hours with 18 Phone Calls and 13 Text MessagesOn Monday I was on phone with Josy who mentioned that there would be some gigs on Saturday that she would need my help with. Ok I say. She'll call me later. She needs to give me the key.<br /><br />Then later in the week I try to reach her but she has already flewn to Stockholm to a belly dance festival (she got the third place in the competition, congatulations!!!) and isn't answering any messages. I worry all week. I call Marie and harass her as well even though she has nothing to do with it. Then on Friday night I finally get a hold on Josy and around 00:00 she sends me a text message, there's only one teaching gig on Saturday, at 1pm. I set my alarm and go back to sleep.<br /><br />This morning I wake up and such and aroud 10am I call Josy. So the gig's at the studio? What should I do with them? What music should I use? Where are the belts? Ok, easy, I can do this, I'm even almost recovered from my persistent flu. Where do I get the key? - The key? You don't have a key??? Oh! Oh! Call my friend she has a key, here's the number.<br /><br />So I call her friend. But she's at work and won't finish until later and the key's at her place. Obviously she can't help me. I sms Josy. I call Marie again. Does she have the phone number of X? Or what about Y? Josy doesn't answer her phone. We think that she must be attending a class there. Luckily there's a registry online with absolutely everybody's phone numbers. Bless Iceland! But we don't know anybody's last names. We try with their addresses. Right around this point I suggest to Marie that maybe we should be detectives. But Marie knows Jóhanna's last name! She, however, is in Stockholm with Josy. I call her, though, maybe she can find Josy for me? <br /><br />Jóhanna is an angel and answers. No she can't find Josy, but who would have a key? Probably A and B, but she doesn't have their phone numbers. Now it's an hour and 20 minutes before the gig starts. But Jóhanna has the number of one of the teachers!<br /><br />I call her. I'm Saara, I'm supposed to be teaching a gig for Josy, would you happen to have a key to Magadanshusið? Yes, she has a key!!! She's at home. And it's not far away! I run out immediately. I walk to her place (20 minutes), I get the key, I walk to Magadanshusið (another 20 minutes or so). When I get there I even have an extra 20 minutes to find everything and select the music and finalize the lesson plan. And so exactly at 1pm I sit down to wait for the group of students. Yes!<br /><br />Quarter past 1 I call the number Josy gave me. Maybe the group got lost and are trying to call Josy who isn't answering? There's an answering machine. After another 10 minutes I call them again. I send an sms. I send and sms to Josy. Did they try to reach her? I send an sms to the owner of the key, the gig is running late, I'll be late too getting the key back. <br /><br />After an hour Josy answers. No she hasn't heard from them. Yes, it was absolutely 1 o'clock. Absolutely today. There's nothing you can do. Go home. So I return the key and walk home. I get home around 3pm.<br /><br />Now what's the moral of the story? It is this: It is a good thing to have a blog, even though you have had the crappiest day ever and absolutely every little thing has gone wrong, at least you have gained a story.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-12913548811739564272008-05-01T23:07:00.004+03:002008-05-02T03:23:50.903+03:00SpringHappy First of May!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SBow4qogxpI/AAAAAAAAEmM/j55Ih_aCCOU/s1600-h/%2B00082.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SBow4qogxpI/AAAAAAAAEmM/j55Ih_aCCOU/s400/%2B00082.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5195518870200305298" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is not from Iceland of course (as you can see trees!) even though last week was Sumardagurinn Fyrsti, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_Day_of_Summer">the First Day of Summer</a>, which is an old old Icelandic holiday for the celebration of the end of the winter and the arrival of the summer. The appropriate greeting is <span style="font-style: italic;">Gleðilegt sumar</span>, happy summer, to which you respond with <span style="font-style: italic;">Takk fyrir veturinn</span>, thank you for the winter. Even though it is usually still quite wintery here during that time, last Thursday it was grey and rainy.<br /><br />But I flew to Finland on Friday and there the Spring had already arrived. The picture above is from the Haltiala Arboretum, where we went for a Sunday walk. More pictures will be promised later with flowers, more green leaves, water, dogs, cows and even a one week old lamb.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SBo5KaogxqI/AAAAAAAAEmc/6w1021B3Q30/s1600-h/%2B00006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SBo5KaogxqI/AAAAAAAAEmc/6w1021B3Q30/s400/%2B00006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5195527971236005538" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Here we have some authentic Icelandic grass though. I saw it yesterday when I was coming home from work. This is actually our building. Notice the bright sunlight even though it was past 8pm.<br /><br />And today it's another first, namely the First of May, yet another holiday. You have it at least in all the Scandinavian countries. You call it the First of May or May Day or Labour Day or Workers Day. The ancient history of the holiday is the same as for the First Day of Summer, namely it is a celebration of the Equinox, the day when days start to be longer than nights. However, I'm now quite confuced since the celebration seems to be quite off: equinox happens around March 20th.<br /><br />In Finland though, the biggest celebration is on Walpurgis Night, the eve of First of May, the current atmosphere of which is aptly described by Wikipedia: "The celebration is typically centered on plentiful use of sparkling wine and other alcoholic beverages." This year I'm celebrating my third Vappu away from Finland.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SBpCN6ogxrI/AAAAAAAAEms/_ZuSzJulGVE/s1600-h/%2B00048.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_63ExVuhGtCc/SBpCN6ogxrI/AAAAAAAAEms/_ZuSzJulGVE/s400/%2B00048.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5195537926970197682" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Today we were quite impressed by the workers parade in Reykjavík. The parade started from Hlemmur, the main bus station close to where we live and marched down Laugavegur all the way to Aðalstræti, where the speeches started. They had two marching bands and a lot of flags and banners and at least a third of the city was present. Which of course isn't such a huge amount of people yet and today <span style="font-style: italic;">was</span> a very beautiful day. The sun was shining from the clear sky, it was warm and we almost sat outside for lunch.<span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"></span></span><br />To get you in the mood, here's the first marching band.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwgCsL-tRRnhaMdandMsW8Z5GbTzNHCpodWzvp0H9TGDkJ9fO-zC7X4xaIwzsC-VMc-XxKMOvUqgxj2khKX-A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0' /><br /><br />And some more pictures <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/doublingplaces/FirstOfMay">here</a>.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1452477333992710146.post-5511524459196428602008-04-23T23:17:00.000+03:002008-04-24T02:56:55.495+03:00Nothing ReallyYesterday the clouds were soft blankets of blue and purple and grey when I sat in the bus on my way home. In the horizon, just above the mountains, there was a wide stripe of orange sunset and the mountains were white and distant and dark behind a haze of blue air. Just above there were holes in the clouds and clear light-blue sky was peaking through.<br /><br />Why do I tell you this? It's nothing extraordinary I assure you, actually if anything the sky was a bit less interesting than usual. But I have time to write tonight.<br /><br />I fell ill Monday night. That's always how it goes. Right when you're finishing your crazy crazy workload you get ill. So I cancelled my dance teaching and ended up spending an hour overtime helping my math students. Well, that's how it goes. To justify skipping one work but still going to another: I really felt like I could handle standing up and talking at the same time but not jumping up and down and yelling at the same time. That's the difference between teaching math and belly dance actually, pretty much the same otherwise.<br /><br />So yes, I'm almost finished with my Probability and Statistics. Three more days next week. And then we'll see what other busy schemes will prevent me from blogging.Saarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09736993912629096059noreply@blogger.com0